the blog

November 20, 2016

A Tumbler with Buzz

Discovering the Next Reality Star.

Simply put, technology is everywhere. It’s in our phones, our cars, and our homes. It’s even creeped it’s way into our tumblers. Yes, you read right—your tumblers! Our clients atWestrock came to us with an opportunity to create the right product for its mixed-use, hi-tech community calledNexton. Situated in Summerville, Nexton is South Carolina’s first gigabit community (each home is connected to a fiber Internet connection 100 times faster than average) and represents the new era of urban/suburban planning. Crazy, right!? Crazy COOL!

The Project

Nexton is the future when it comes to synching technology and modern living. Because of this, we knew we had to design a cutting edge product that would appeal to those who seek the next new thing. Even more challenging was the fact that we had to take a very simple item, a tumbler, and rocket it into something that honored complexity of client. And Nexton wanted to offer this promotional product at Charleston’s bellwether (signature) technology event: the 2016 DIG South conference.

The Result

As daunting as it seemed, Michelle + team came up with an idea to morph the commonplace into the unexpected and blended augmented reality into the design! Using an insulated double-walled, bright-colored look, augmented reality was imbedded into the tumbler that could be scanned by a free smartphone app. People could watch videos or virtual tours of the community, schedule an actual tour, add a Nexton event to their calendar, or enter a raffle to win a bike at DIG South. On the back end, Nexton gathered analytics about how potential customers interacted with the AR. This was real marketing data that makes a difference when molding a brand. And conference attendees got a stylish tumbler to boot!

The Takeaway

The biggest accomplishment, though, was the buzz the tumbler created. Implementing innovation to even the simplest of products created excitement in the promotion, and it reflected the forward-thinking philosophy of Nexton, instilling brand awareness. And if that wasn’t enough, the smartphone app was updated after the conference so that it could be used for future events. The tumbler went from ordinary promotional product to a cutting-edge, sustainable marketing tool!